Luminous character



Oct.. 7, 1930. F, GRUNHUT 1,777,793

`Luminous CHARACTER Filed Aug. 14. 192s .6b. V/// f -V//////// Y/A f f y@ Int/en for:

*Patentedocez 1930 i LUMINOUS Applicationied Augsf 14, 1.928, seriailNo.

My present invention relates to av luminous "charactersuch as' lettersA or,` numerals-as used `on a large scale for advertising puri poses inorderfto attract the notice of the public and to allow readingtheadvertise@` c ment also atnight. j

f The types of luminous characters vknown up to date have'the disadvantage that they either are very expensive or that they have no uninterruptedand completely closedA surface whereby theclearness of the character is very unfavourably interfered withV at night. .Moreover water of condensation or foreign bodiesv are Aliable to intrude which ,l5 greatly reduce the reliability of service and in short time destroy the-material. `A further great disadvantage of the luminous characters, known up to now is the fact that theycannot `be seen'and read from the side i i 20 but only when re garding them practically "from the front. 1 i i My present invention has the purpose to obviate` the existing disadvantages and to create a luminous hollow character forming i .25" a completely closed bodywhich consists `of two parts. The upper part having the shape lof the desiredcharacterisl manufactured in one piece of any suitable translucent material and comprises two lateral shanks coni nected with each other by aid of an intermediate yokethe cross-sectionofwhich may e `be shaped in any suitable form. The lower f i part serving to receive the upper vtranslucent part consists of a ground plate having eX- actly the shape ofthe upper part, said ground plate being provided on its inner and outer edges with' rims projecting upwardly. When connecting the two parts with each other a hollow space is created in which'the 40 source of light is arranged. Instead of the ground plate registering inshape with the upper translucent parta base plate of any suitable material can beused as carrying 1` means, in which case the latter is provided with apertures registering with the outlines CHARACTER 299,540, and in' Germany september se, `192'?.

of the upper characterr part, so that the light FRIEDRICHQGRNHUT; or NUREMBERG, GERMANY `of a source situated behind thebase plate i can pass through these apertures. i Y L The annexed drawing illustratesby way ot example the present invention, in which Figs. l and 2 show the upper translucent part of the character inV cross-section and` plan View respectively, Figs. 3 and 4 show the connection of a character with a ground or base plate serving as carrying means for the translucent upper part.` Y

\ According to Figs. l and 2 the upper vaulted part of letter is made `in one` piece of any suitable translucent material and consists of two lateral shanks a and bconnected with each other by means of an intermediate yoke c, which ma of cross-section.` Y i In Fig. Sis illustrated a metal :ground plate d registeringvin its shape with aletter and provided on its inner and outer edges with upwardly projecting rims e which are A Ch yA haveany suitablefform adapted to receive the upper vaulted part y of the letter a, c. The connection of the lower part Z vwith the upper one a, b, `c may beeffected by aid of` known elements in a simple manner.` In the hollow space formed between the twofconnectedparts the electric i lamps are arranged lfor `illuminating the translucent part, said lamps being mounted on the ground plate. i i

As shown in Fig. 4 the `arrangement of the translucent letter is of such kind, that nous letter appears in relief clearly above its carrying means.

What I claim is:

A luminous character comprising a basepart and a superposed Character body, the base plate serving as a support for the character body and having an aperture according to the outline of said character', the character being made of translucent material and secured at its edges to the base plate so as to n cover the aperture, places not occupied by the character bodybeingformed so as to prevent the transmisslon of light rays.

In testimony whereof I aHiX my signature.V

FRIEDRICH GRNHUT; 

